Major storms have battered the Philippines time and again this year. Typhoon Durian was the fourth "super" typhoon in four months to hit the country, swamping the Mayon volcano with so much wind and rain that ash and boulders cascaded down its slopes in walls of mud that swamped entire villages.
More than 200 people were killed, and some 260 were listed as missing. Sadly, the scale of the calamity is far too common.
Doomed by geography and hobbled by poverty, the Philippines has long tried to minimize the damage caused by the 20 or so typhoons that hit the sprawling archipelago every year. Despite a combination of preparation and mitigation measures, high death tolls and destruction persist.
The Philippines' location in the northwestern Pacific puts it right in the pathway of the world's biggest typhoon generator, according to meteorologists.
"We are often the first to experience typhoons before they go to China, Taiwan and Japan," Thelma Cinco, senior weather specialist of the Philippine weather bureau, said.
Durian punched the Bicol region -- which has gained a reputation as the welcome mat for the most destructive cyclones -- with gusts of up to 265kph that blew away roofs, toppled trees, power and communication lines and sent tonnes of rocks and volcanic ash down the slopes of Mayon, the region's most famous landmark.
Nationwide in 2001 to 2005, 2,892 people were killed and 909 others went missing in typhoons and other storms, which caused damage totaling 26.05 billion pesos (US$521 million), the National Disaster Coordinating Council says.
But how can Filipinos deal with all of these typhoons?
"The country would need a big umbrella," Golez quipped.
"Figuratively, that umbrella is the knowledge that we should instill in our people -- knowing about disaster preparedness," he said.
He believes Filipinos should be "bombarded" with disaster information, including stories of the Indian Ocean tsunami two years ago and the February landslide in the central Philippine village of Guinsaugon that killed more than 1,000.
"They have to get scared, or else," he said.
"We have to give them the reality, and it's a sad reality. We have to tell them the truth," he added.
But work should go beyond preparedness, Golez said. Too many people live close to danger zones like mountainsides or riverbanks.
"They are pushed there because they do not have any choice. If you develop their economy, then they would have more options," he said.
Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine National Red Cross, said better planning is what is required.
"We have to break the cycle of disaster and poverty by being smarter, by being sure we can plan our community smarter," he said.
"The big problem here in our country is we don't plan our communities. It's every man for himself," he added.
Mayor Jessie Robredo of Naga city in Camarines Sur, a province in Bicol often hit by typhoons, said his people are used to the yearly storms and began bracing for Durian a week before it arrived. The result was "zero casualty" this time, he said.
"The people of Naga are very resilient. Typhoons are like a way of life, a part of life. We do not like them, but our attitude is that there is still another day and we will rise again," he said.
RSS